A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Tuesday, May 06, 2014

The Right Approach to Yom Ha’atzmaut

Ben Gurion declaring Israel's independence

When President Obama was newly elected, he made a trip to the
Middle East to address the Arab nations. He spoke about Israel’s right to exist
as a Jewish nation citing the Holocaust as the reason.

He was roundly criticized for that by many – especially in the
religious community. Because as we all know the real reason Israel has a right
to exist is because God gave it to us. It is in the bible. Check it out.

But even though that is the primary reason for our rights to
the land of Israel, the President’s references were not entirely wrong. In fact
it was indeed the Holocaust that motivated many nations in the UN to vote in favor of creating a Jewish State – partitioning Palestine into two
separate states, one Arab and one Jewish.

One of the things that made me tear a while back is when I heard and saw archival footage of Jewish
refugees interred in a displacement camp
post Holocaust singing Israel’s national anthem, the Hatikva. It appears they did so spontaneously upon
hearing the announcement of a Jewish State in Palestine. Until the establishment of the State - they
had no place to go. No one wanted these Jewish refugees. Palestine under the
British Mandate closed their doors to them. Now – they were finally open. Jews
could finally go ‘home’.

I must have seen the archival footage of Ben Gurion declaring
Israel’s independence dozens of times. It too makes my eyes tear. I don’t see how
anyone with a Jewish heart would not have the same reaction. Especially after
the Holocaust. That took place on the 5th day of the Hebrew month of
Iyar, returning the land of Israel back into Jewish hands for the first time in
2000 years. That day- Yom Ha’atzmaut - is now celebrated annually in Israel and
by many Jews outside of Israel. And it is being celebrated in Israel right now.

Lest anyone minimize
the importance of this day in either the religious context of returning to our
own land – or in the humanitarian context of opening her doors to all Jews, I
refer you to Rav Ahron Soloveichik. He has determined that it is proper to say
Hallel on this day. And not to say Tachanun - which is normally said weekdays during morning and
afternoon prayers – but never on Jewish holidays.

Why no Tachanun on this day? Rav Ahron's frame of reference is Tu B’Av (the 15th of Av). We do not say Tachanun on that day because the thousands of martyrs of Beitar were brought to burial after the
Roman authorities decree against that was lifted. There was cause for great joy
in Klal Yisroel because these bodies could now be treated with dignity. So much
so - that it was declared a holiday for all future generations. If Chazal could
declare a holiday for this, how much more so should there be a festive holiday
when the remnant of the European Holocaust came not to Jewish graves - but to refuge in the Jewish homeland!

What about Hallel? The
Meiri in the last chapter in Pesachim tells us that an individual or community
is overtaken by a Tzarah (disaster of any kind or any source) and is
miraculously delivered form it – then there is a Mitzvah to recite Hallel at
the time of the redemption and on its anniversary each year. That it is a Mitzvah
but not an obligation means that we do not recite the blessing for Hallel. But
one may indeed institute saying Hallel for himself and saying it is considered
the fulfillment of a D’Oraisa – a Torah based Mitzvah!

For survivors, there can be no doubt about the gratitude to
God and the founders of the State for giving them a home. There is a famous
story of a Chasidic Rebbe who was assigned by the Nazis to sweep the grounds of
his Concentration camp. He vowed that if he survives the Holocaust and moved to
Israel, he would sweep the streets there. He survived. And he moved to Israel.
And on every Yom Ha’atzmaut, he goes outside sweeps the streets near his home
in Tel Aviv.

Yesterday, I encountered a friend in shul. He is one of the kindest and nicest people you will ever meet. He will
give you the shirt off of his back. He is truly a lovely fellow. But
when I mentioned to him that we do not say Tachanun on Yom Ha’atzmaut he
scoffed. He said that because of what Israel is now doing to the Charedim, we
should say Tachanun twice. He was joking of course. But his sentiments were
clear. This fellow is too young to be a Holocaust survivor. I don’t know if his
parents were.

But his attitude is indicative of a malaise that exists among the right that
refuses to recognize the great miracle that is Israel. They see only the bad and they can recite a
litany of ills they say the state perpetrated against religious Jews. Like disabusing the Yaldei Teheran and later the Sephardim of religious practices upon immigrating to Israel. And of course now there is the draft - yet another anti Torah measure
by an anti religious state.

I am not going to discuss why I believe this perspective is all
wrong. I've done that in other posts and it is beyond the scope of this post. But I can’t really blame Charedi
yeshiva students. This is what they have been indoctrinated with. It is not their
fault. It is the fault of their educators. They have been teaching their
students for decades about what the secular state of Israel has done to religious
Jews. All of it bad. And are blinded to all the good Israel did – and does now.

Even by Charedi standards the good far outweighs the bad.
The mere fact that there is more Limud HaTorah now than ever in the history of
the State of Israel cannot be ignored or minimized. Israel has for decades been
the Charedi world’s largest financial contributor. Does anyone really believe
that the flourishing state of Limud haTorah that exists there today would exist
if there had been no state? Does anyone for a moment believe that without the
modern day infrastructure built by the Israeli government that there would be
the kind of numbers in the Yeshiva world that we see now?

And yet they see themselves as succeeding despite the state,
not because of it. And therefore feel that instead of being grateful, Israel deserves
to be put down and disparaged at every turn. For example - just today I read
the following story online. It is taken from Nefesh Harav by Rav Hershel Shachter.

The Agudah had a conference in a hotel in Jerusalem. Several
representatives felt uncomfortable that the Israeli flag was flying on the roof
of the hotel. It wasn’t possible to ask the hotel to take down the flag and
instead they came up with the suggestion to the hotel to add flags from other
countries so the Israeli flag would not be alone.

The Israeli press heard about the incident and made fun of
the Agudah. In particular they were upset that the British Union flag was
chosen. During WWII the British (with the Union Jack on the boat) turned away
boats of Jews trying to get to Palestine leading to their death by the Nazis.
Now Agudah preferred the Union Jack to the Israeli flag.

The Rav, R’ Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik, responded at a Mizrachi
meeting saying that he was no a fan of ceremonies but that halachicly the
Israeli flag had more Kedusha (holiness) than the Union Jack. At that point he spoke
about Jewish soldiers being killed to raise the flag over new land.

The truly great and inspiring Charedi leaders of the past
have a different view than those of today. That’s why one of the pioneers of the Yeshiva world in
Israel did not say Tachanun on Yom Ha’atzamut and flew the Israeli flag on his building
in Bnei Brak, Ponevezh Yeshiva. And it is why that Chasidic Rebbe swept the
streets of Tel Aviv on that day each year.

My hope is that things will change and that the Yeshiva
world will begin to recognize what the existence of the State of Israel means
to them, stop disparaging them; and express Hakaras HaTov - their gratitude- accordingly

I believe that there may be some moves in that direction.
Yesterday for the first time there were many images of Charedi Rabbonim (like
those in Bnei Brak) standing in silence on Yom HaZikaron. They stood in
solidarity with their Israeli brothers in public recognition of the sacrifice
of those Israelis who paid the ultimate price for protecting their country.
There were no recriminations about the moment of silence not being the Jewish
way to mourn. They just stood quietly in unity with their Jewish brothers.

This is a good sign. I only hope that in the future there
can be some more of that kind of good will spread on days like Yom Ha’atzmaut. When
the Charedi world begins to recognize that secular Jews don’t hate them… and
they make a move like this – well... there might just be an opening for Moshiach
to come.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.